Why it's admired:
Admired for its customer service and affluent clientele, this credit card companyâÄîAmerica's largest in terms of spendingâÄîsaw its stock rise 22%
last year. But the company struggled in the fourth quarter with card income falling 42%, recently cut 5,400 jobs and revealed it would spend $153 million in fines and refunds to
compensate for consumer protection violations dating back to 2003. In another departure, AmEx spread its wings last year with the launch of BlueBird, a prepaid card available at
Wal-Mart. âÄîEF

The Most Admired list is the definitive report card on corporate reputations. Our survey partners at Hay Group started with approximately 1,400 companies: the Fortune
1,000âÄîthe 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenueâÄîand non-U.S. companies in Fortune's global 500 database with revenue of $10 billion or
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